Hirings at LTI, Coforge, other mid-tier tech cos to outpace the Big Five this fiscal

Recruiters expect second-tier information technology or IT services companies to achieve this feat Thanks to shorter projects, agile operations and better-paced overall growth in an uncertain demand environment.

Of course, this forecast is based on the trends of the last few years and the current growth trajectory for the remaining four-five months of this fiscal.

Mid-sized IT firms evaluated by experts include LTIMindtree Ltd, Coforge Ltd, Mphasis Ltd, Persistent Systems Ltd, Hexaware Technologies Ltd, Sonata Software Ltd, L&T Technology Services Ltd and Firstsource Solutions Ltd, which generate revenues between $1 billion and $5 billion annually.

Seven of these eight midsize IT services companies added 7,802 employees from April to September 2025; This is lower than the additions in the same period the previous year, but more than double the hires made by large companies (3,097) in the first six months of this fiscal year.

Sonata Software is yet to announce its second quarter results and Hexaware is following a January-December financial calendar, unlike most Indian IT companies that follow an April-March financial calendar.

Data from its financial results showed that the group of eight mid-tier IT companies added 16,583 people in the first half of fiscal 2025 and 1,860 in the first half of the previous fiscal year.

In comparison, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Ltd, Infosys Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Wipro Ltd and Tech Mahindra Ltd, among the Big Five in Indian IT, cumulatively added 11,171 employees in the first half of FY25 and reduced headcount by 40,744 in H1 FY24.

This followed the trend over the last two financial periods, where mid-sized companies contributed more to their headcount in absolute numbers than their larger counterparts. Mid-sized IT services companies added 22,518 employees and 7,853 employees in FY25 and FY24, respectively. The Big Five added just 12,718 staff in FY25 after reducing headcount by 70,607 in FY24.

Artificial intelligence, automation impact

Seasonality will likely disappear in the second half of this fiscal year, as it has in the past, due to reduced bills and temporary layoffs due to more holidays and fewer working days.

The increasing use of automation tools further reduces dependence on humans in tasks such as coding, customer support, application development and maintenance. This is expected to further negatively impact hiring prospects for the remainder of fiscal 2026.

Midsize IT services companies added 7,036 employees from April to September 2025; That’s down from the same period a year ago, but more than double the hiring at major borders in the first six months of this fiscal year. Much of the decline in the total headcount added to the top five was due to TCS, which announced in July that it would lay off around 15,000 people.

Five mid-tier technology services companies are expected to finish FY26 with more hires than the Big Five of Indian IT, according to Bengaluru-based staffing services firm TeamLease.

The number of staff in the big five is expected to be approximately 1% higher than in the previous year; This corresponds to around 15,400. The Big Five ended last fiscal year with 1.5 million employees.

On the other hand, medium-sized companies with less than a fifth of their total headcount are expected to hire about 6% more. According to data from TeamLease, this translates into approximately 16,000 employees in FY26; that number is slightly above the Big Five.

Neeti Sharma, CEO of TeamLease Digital, said that major IT companies have continued hiring but their new employee strength has not increased much. “They are focusing more on digitalisation, reskilling and improving productivity rather than simply increasing headcount. Even as they continue to hire, the overall number of new employees has not increased much.”

Being agile helps

Mid-sized companies are expected to perform better as many continue to grow their delivery teams.

“On the other hand, mid-sized companies are more active in hiring,” said Sharma, adding, “their flexibility in taking on short-term projects, their agility and strong presence in fast-growing areas like digital and BFSI, and the steady expansion of GCCs (global talent centres) have helped them maintain steady hiring.”

Hiring in the first half was led by Infosys for large IT firms and LTIMindtree for smaller rivals, with both adding 8,413 and 2,140 employees, respectively.

A second expert had a similar opinion.

“Midmarket companies generally have better resource efficiency, and with customer demand for the cloud increasing, the combination of AI and analytics capability with smaller deal size provides an enabling environment for them to increase headcount,” said Ashutosh Sharma, vice president and research director at Forrester Research.

By way of comparison he added: For large caps, the pipeline has slowed and growth challenges are forcing them to optimize utilization, which is reflected in their employee numbers.

Forrester’s Sharma also added that large companies “aim to increase the productivity of existing employees rather than adding more people.”

Bias for beginners

Much of this increase in midsize companies hiring more people last year was driven by more new additions to roles such as AI engineers, data analysts and cybersecurity roles, according to TeamLease data. Large IT firms gradually added 2,100 new graduates, while smaller competitors added 2,400 graduates.

This is good news for the 1.5 million students graduating from engineering colleges every year and the majority of non-tech graduates looking to find jobs in India’s IT firms.

One of the companies stated its intention to continue hiring new hires.

“I think our new hiring program that we’ve committed to, where we’ve hired over 2,600 new people this quarter, will come into effect once they’re trained and deployed,” Vipul Chandra, LTIMindtree’s chief financial officer, said during the company’s post-earnings press conference on Oct. 16.

For now, the prospect of more hiring at midsize companies is not alone. According to a Mint report On Nov. 7, midsize IT services companies are expected to grow revenue faster than the Big Five for the second year in a row.

The top five ended the first half of the fiscal year with revenue between $3 billion and $15 billion, while midsize companies finished the half with revenue between $524 million and $2.3 billion.